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Split the Army with the Twins


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If Eirika and Ephraim were to split the army between them, who do you think would go with whom, and where would shared units like Gerik be recruited? Bonus points for unit diversity.

Currently, I'm thinking Seth, Franz, and Joshua travel with Eirika and she reruits Amelia and Cormag, while Kyle and Forde go with Ephraim. Evryone else, I'm less certain of, but I'd like to keep Ross and Garcia, Lute and Artur, and Colm and Neimi together.

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There was a topic about this a few months ago.

The majority of characters recruited post-split would go with Eirika, because most are shoehorned into Eph's route. As for those from before it, well Seth is almost inseparable from Eirika (maybe Franz could go too, but Amelia makes more sense on Eph's and Franz and Ameila go well together), as is Kyle and Forde from Ephraim. Colm and Neimi- I don't see them with Ephraim, though I could see Garcia and Ross. Joshua has to go Eirika for clear reasons, Natasha going back to Grado sounds good, and the remainder could go either way.

What can be agreed on is that FE8 needs more units for make a simult-split work.

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I'm not sure if it would be possible to have a good balance number-wise, class-wise, and story-wise. On the other hand, if we can accept in giving each route their own flavor, so to speak, and taking into consideration promotion-branching is a thing, then perhaps it can become easier to do so.

In that case, here's my take on the matter, taking into consideration the above. Keep in mind I won't go for fairness, but still try to balance things out.

Spoiler

Starting with those who join before the split:

Seth - Eirika. Simply a continuation of accompanying/protecting her. Ephraim in his route even asks him to keep doing that, so if we have a true split, this can simply be upheld instead of Seth saying Eirika insisted otherwise.

Franz - Eirika. Like Seth, he simply continues with his usual duty of accompanying Eirika and Seth. Not to mention it's also likely Forde would also aks him to instead of joining the war against Grado.

Vanessa, Moulder, and Gilliam - Eirika. In the original plan, Eirika was to simply travel to Rausten via ship, with only a light Freilian escort. We know that plan went south, literally. In any case, since those three were already assigned to her, then why not have them still accompany her as part of that escort?

Garcia - Ephraim. He has already decided to come out of retirement of fighting, and his experience as a veteran warrior is of more use in the war against Grado.

Ross - Eirika. Even if his father aknowledges he can fight, he is still not experienced enough (possible gameplay EXP aside), so Garcia may still not want him to be with him in the actual war. But might instead tell him to go protect Eirika. Also, not splitting the two means no axes for one sibling (not counting prepromotes and promoted classes for other characters). Unless it can be used for replayability or for actual novelty, then keep Ross with Eirika. Otherwise, have him join the war with his dad to prove his worth.

Neimi and Colm - Eirika. I don't see these splitting up, and I don't think they would be so keen on joining the war, so they would still stick with Eirika. Though like above, this means no weapon type for the other sibling for Tier 1 classes (and Innes is in the other route anyway). Also the matter of Colm being the only PC thief (Rennac joins too late in either route). So again, if you want the routes to have actual gameplay deviations, I'd leave them with Eirika.

Lute and Artur - Eirika. These two could be split up, but I don't see either with a tangible reason to be in Freila's army attacking Grado. Now true, this would mean no Tier 1 tome users for Ephraim... but well, my point still stands. That said, I do have a small fix for this later one.

Natasha - Ephraim. She has her mission, so heading back to Grado is reasonable here. Also, it allows Ephraim have a healer, since I placed Moulder with Eirika.

Joshua - Eirika. Quite obvious here, due to the Jehanna plot. I'd also make him more involved in the plot. He's like the only one of the princes and princesses, along with Tana, that is subject to final death. I'd change that as well, so he still lives for conversations and stuff, like Innes and L'Arachel. But this is a different subject.

Kyle and Forde - Ephraim. Quite simple here, they would keep following Ephraim.

Now for those who join in the split:

Innes, Saleh, Duessel, and Knoll go unchanged, naturally.

Amelia - Ephraim. I find her role of "Grado treats soldiers as cannon fodder" is best seen being on the actual frontlines of the war, instead of part of a loose detachment chasing after Eirika. Especially with her talk with a fellow soldier in Fort Rigwald.

Tana - Ephraim. I see her either way. She wants to not be left behind, so going with either sibling works. I'd put her with Ephraim since Vanessa I already placed her with Eirika, so he can have a PK, and a flier. This last bit explained further on. I'd also try to aply the same thing with her as with Joshua above. But again, different subject.

Cormag - Eirika. Makes a more interesting story for him, considering Glen's death is only witnessed in Eirika's story. Thus, instead of being just one more soldier doubting and switching sides, we get him being deceived by Valter, then learning the truth form Eirika, and have his revenge against Valter. This was a factor in sending Tana to Ephraim, since then Eirika would have all the fliers.

Gerik and Tethys - Eirika. They were hired by Innes, so better keep them there. Yeah, Ephraim gets no dancer, then.

L'Arachel and Dozla - Eirika. Considering her, she could go either way (in Eirika's route she wanted to head home, in Ephraim's she's chasing the Phantom Ship). However, I think she's more suited for Eirika's. Not to mention, she was the one who calls forth the Rausten Knights to help in Eirika's Chapter 13, so I'd keep her there.

Marisa - Ephraim. In either route, the mercenary guild mixes up her jobs (in Eirika's, she ends up fighitng fellow guild members, in Ephraim's they send her the wrong way). Since I already placed Colm, Gerik, and Joshua with Eirika, I'd place her with Ephraim so he can have a sword infantry unit.

Ewan - Ephraim. His role in Ephraim's route is to explain the mix-up to Marisa. Otherwise, there's nothing that could convince her to join Ephraim's group. Also, a magic user for Ephraim. Yes, there's Knoll, but he joins at the group merge to really matter.

Rennac - Ephraim. Either way, he splits off from L'Arachel and Dozla early, so that's plenty of time for him to end in Grado Keep. Also, this can keep the recuits 7-7 for each sibling with the route-split characters.

And that would be it. Not definite, of course, but that's how I'd start.

Edited by Acacia Sgt
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48 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Gilliam - Eirika

I think Gilliam is more likely to participate in the war, and therefore go with Ephraim, since he's a knight after all.

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Personally I think it makes a lot more sense for most units to go with Eirika.

L'Arachel seems far more interested in Eirika than in Ephraim so it would make sense for her to latch on to Eirika before Ephraim. Also when the two armies reunite L'Arachel Ephraim start by introducing themselves and that's what happens in both routes. I see that as an implication she and Ephraim are supposed to sit down for a real chat for the first time. Since Dozla is with his mistress he would join her too.

Remac may work better with Ephraim. Since he's pretty much fleeing from his very persistent boss it would be better for him to flee to Grado which is further away from L'arachel if she's with Eirika. 

Cormag's and Joshua's stories and actions are far more personal in Eirika's story so they work better in her tale.

Ewan has more prominence in Eirika's story while he's just there in that of Ephraim's. His master is locked into Eirika's route and a student would want to stay near his teacher. If Ewan is there then it would make sense for his big sister and in turn her boss to also be nearby.

Franz isn't exactly addressed as such but he's Eirika's first companion. He seems to dutiful to just leave her to go with Ephraim.

Tana can go either way. She's Eirika's best friend but I can also see her trying to impress her crush.

Gillian could chose for Ephraim. He's a knight and combat veteran so he might want to go serve on the actual war front rather then be part of an envoy. 

Kyle and Forde should also stick to their lord since they went through a lot together already. 

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I'm going to repeat my wannabe-contrarian statement from the previous thread and say that Seth wouldn't necessarily be glued to Eirika's route. He isn't specifically her retainer, but the general of Renais' army, and since the trouble Eirika had on her route wasn't really to be expected beforehand, I say that Seth joining the fight against Grado is a completely realistic scenario. I'd even say that if the group were to be split, Eirika would only take a handful of the compagnions she has gathered at that point since her mission was supposed to be the way less dangerous one. Maybe Colm (because she'd want to keep a low profile), Neimi (because she'd go with Colm) and Joshua (for story reasons, but he might make an excuse in order to check on his homeland), but the rest might as well help Ephraim.

It's different for the characters that join after chapter 9 - some would work either way (L'Arachel and her crew, Tana, Amelia), but Innes, as well as Gerik et al., specifically went in the same direction as Eirika. And since Carcino makes it pretty clear that the journey wouldn't go as smoothly as planned, I always found it a bit farfetched that Innes would send Gerik away to support Ephraim.

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